SGV: Carbs Heaven at Ahgoo Kitchen

 

I checked out Ahgoo’s Kitchen in El Monte recently. The restaurant is fairly small and it’s best to get there early. Three large parties squeezed in and they weren’t taking any more after that. The restaurant didn’t take anyone else after that. My friend ordered all the food and since it was dinner, we didn’t get any noodles or dumplings though they weren’t far from mind mind. I was pleased to discover the thick and fluffy Chinese bread that accompanied the meal. Sure, you could get rice but why would you when you can make faux open faced sandwiches of sorts?

 

Ahgoo served some little dishes of pickled cabbage and marinated beansprouts to start. Some say this is like the Chinese version of Korean kimchi/ banchan but it really is a precursor to such. The Chinese have always had their own version of pickled veggies.

We started with a lovely seafood soup (not pictured). We also had a savory beef and hollow-stem veggies dish. I thought about opening my piece of bread to form some sort of pita to sop up all the lovely juices.

Although we skipped the dumplings and noodles, we did get a beef roll. This may be my fave beef roll in the SGV right now. Just the right amount of sauce and beef. Though my friend says it used to have more beef. I guess if your restaurant doesn’t turn tables over much, you either have to raise your prices or rethink portions.

 

The best thing we ate though had to be the leek pie. And this didn’t even have meat! The hot stuffed pies were quickly gobbled up. For those who think of Chinese food as just rice and stir-frys have to check out northern Chinese food where bread and other flour-based foods rule.

 

Ahgoo’s Kitchen

10053 Valley Blvd., El Monte, CA 91731  —  (626) 455-0930

© The Minty  2014